Roller Derby

[Rick Stirling]

This was shot was Nikon D60 using the kit 55-200mm lens at approximately 200mm.
Exposure was around 1/160
ISO was 1600

The onboard flash was used as I don't have a hotshoe flash yet (it's on my list), hence the little bit of red eye visible on the skater on the left.

I'm looking for advice on how to better shoot low-light fast sports.

Indoor with low lighting, fast action with a stock lens isn't easy, so I have to use the much high ISOs. I also have a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 lens, but can only use it on manual focus on the D60, which makes getting the focus correct much harder.

So - get the hotshoe flash to allow me to use a lower ISO, or learn to manually focus the 50mm and crank it wide?

[danbaileyphoto]

Cool shot! You really captured the action and mood well.

All of the above. Get a wicked fast lens and open it up. Get the flash off camera and learn how to use external lighting techniques. That alone is an exciting and long process of learning and adventure. When you get the flash off camera, you really open up possibilities.

Keep it up!